Scoping through magazine articles awhile back, I am came across one with a pastry challenge…for anyone visiting Paris and I immediately thought of my friend Colleen, who authors this week’s blog.

Colleen Watson- Guest Blogger

She was headed off to Paris and I didn’t know if this Pastry challenge would be of interest, but she immediately was excited about the opportunity and the result….well read and find out…as Colleen accepts the Paris patisseries challenge. Take it away Colleen.....

Pâtisseries délicieuses …
Stepping off the plane to unseasonably cool weather for a June in Paris, I’m already craving those items I think of as being the best of French food. A freshly-baked baguette, wonderfully rich and creamy cheese accompanied by a glass of Bordeaux.

I could be happy sitting in a café all day watching the Paris world pass by with only my drink order changing from café crème to a vin rouge.

But this trip, my good friend and frequent traveling companion, Mark Stine (yes, the very same blogger who generally graces this space) sent me a list of several of the top pâtisseries in Paris. I decided I was up for the challenge.

So, on one of the warmer days toward the end of my trip, I set out with my traveling companions to begin the adventure. From where we were staying near the Tour Eiffel, we decide to go to the furthest away and work our way back. We took the metro, conveniently located a couple of doors down from our hotel to the Métro République. We followed our Paris map a couple of short blocks south of the Pl. de la République off of the busy Bd du Temple to Jacques Genin.

For years, Jacques Genin, self-taught pastry chef, sold his chocolates and caramels to high-end Paris restaurants and hotels, but finally opened his own space in the hip northern edge of the Marais at the end of 2008. And thus, his delicious goods were made available directly to the public.

 
His beautiful establishment is warm and welcoming, a combination chocolaterie, pâtisserie and tea salon, with its beautifully designed white walls, extraordinarily lovely orchids well placed by the entrance, and its pristine hard wood floors begging us to take the few steps down into the heart of the shop. Awaiting us were deliciously appealing pastries and glass cases filled with delicate freshly made chocolates.

Standing behind the glass cases, Arthur Dieupart motioned us over and gave us our first taste of the best chocolates in my memory. Smooth and creamy ganaches, we purchased several of the small lovely boxes, each holding nine squares of the most interesting flavors with herbs and spices (jasmine, ginger, mint, tea) and others equally interesting (grapefruit, rose). Even the more typical kind was not of a typical taste.

But, we did come for the pastries!

Jacques Genin has a delightfully inviting tea room on the other side of the circular stairs that lead to the loft kitchen where all the pastries, chocolates, jellys and caramels are made fresh each day … and throughout the day to replenish what has been sold. We decided on the Saint-Honoré, a surprise from the typical that featured a delectable, flaky pastry topped with vanilla whipped cream alongside three cream puffs of chocolate, caramel and vanilla. It was a perfect selection with the café crème (oh, and more chocolates).

jacque genin, fondeur en chocolat - paris
133, rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris
Tél +33(0)1 45 77 29 01
http://jacquesgenin.fr/

Pulling ourselves away from the inviting ambience, friendly staff and delicious smells, we left to walk to the next shop on our list, Pâtisserie Pain de Sucre.

Located on rue Rambuteau, also in the Marais, just three blocks northeast of the Centre Pompidou, this shop is owned by Nathalie Robert and Didier Mathray. These two met each other at Pierre Gagnaire's three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the pastry kitchen, of course. They opened Pain de Sucre together and continue to work as a team, creating wonderfully fabulous confections.

The bright, well-appointed space is just what you’d imagine when thinking pâtisserie. As we enter the shop, the first things we notice are the cases filled with inviting pastries and macaroons. We quickly notice the ornate and amazingly fairy-tale ceiling perfectly suited to the space. The shop is busy with customers unable to make decisions because everything is so well presented and looks so inviting, concoctions so well appointed they looked like artwork. Even the marshmallows are tempting!
We decide on their tarte au citron, which is apparently pretty famous. We leave the pâtisserie and stroll down to a café for an afternoon espresso. The tart is all we anticipated, delightfully creamy with a hint of lime. Definitely a winner!

Pain du Sucre
14 rue Rambuteau, 75003 Paris
Tél +33(0)1 45 74 68 92
http://www.patisseriepaindesucre.com/

We move on toward our final stop of the day, La Pâtisserie des Rêves located in the posh 7th arrondisement and created by chefs Angelo Musa—a winner of the Pastry World Cup and a Meilleur Ouvrier de France—and Philippe Conticini, partnering with hotelier Thierry Teyssier. (They have another shop in the 16th arrondissement, 10-minutes from the Palais de Chaillot, which includes a salon de thé and an atelier des choux.)

We step into a small space crowded with late afternoon shoppers clearly picking up pastries for after dinner pleasures. Everything in the shop is artfully designed, from the color-coordinated walls, fixtures and packaging, to the interesting glass domes under which contain deliciously appealing delicacies.

 
If you are looking for only one treat, the word in this "Pastry Shop of Dreams" is to try the Paris-Brest, for which it has won raves, and rightly so. The original Paris-Brest was created in 1891 to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race and was popular with riders because of its energy-rich calorie content and its circular shape, which was easy to eat on the ride.

True to their creativity, Phillipe Conticini’s Paris-Brest is different than most, with six small puffs of pastry (choux) nestled together in a circle, each containing rich chocolate-praline. The addition of the chocolate adds a wonderful flavor to the smooth crème and goes way beyond the typical. Definitely one to try!

La Pâtisserie des Rêves par Philippe Conticini
93, rue du Bac, 75007 Paris
telephone: +33 (0)1 42 84 00 82
http://www.lapatisseriedesreves.com/

And so, with a sugar over load and a desire for some substantive food, we walked back to our “neighborhood” and stopped at a corner bistro that offered us our customary glass of Bordeaux and the special of the evening, a fresh fish in … wait for it … puff pastry!
Apres:

We woke up the next morning, our last day in Paris, and decided we couldn’t go home without at least a dozen more boxes of chocolates from Jacque Genin. We made our way over to the shop, which, on this day, was teaming with customers. By the end of it, we (and all the others) had nearly wiped them out. We met Jacques, a most sincere, warm and charming host, and had another pastry and café crème. This time, the lime … divine!!

......And so the Paris patisseries challenge was met by Colleen and her bonvivant friends…I however was a lucky recipient of one of the boxes of chocolates from Jacque Genin…two words...tres’ magnifique! I am not ashamed to say…I ate all of the chocolates in one afternoon...I did however recycle the cute chocolate tin and filled it with a necklace that I gave to my daughter. If you can’t make it to Paris anytime soon..may I recommend the internet..make a list of all of the pastry shops in your area..and spend an afternoon in Pastry pursuit! Bon appetit!

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What a wonderful challenge! I am heading to Paris next June and will be bookmarking this page so that I can participate in the challenge! Merci!

Posted by: Bridget at Jul 13, 2012 12:42:01 PM